Arrow nock and trigger actuated release therefor

ABSTRACT

An archer&#39;&#39;s handgrip including support structure for supporting the nock on the rear end of an arrow against lateral deflection. The support structure includes a finger releasable latch mechanism releasably engageable with notches in the nock portion of the supported arrow and retains the supported arrow nock against forward movement relative to the support structure, the latch mechanism and support structure being engageable with the rear end portion of the associated arrow nock rearward of the forward end of the bow string accommodating slot of the arrow nock.

United States Patent 1 Suski et al.

[ 51 July 31, 1973 ARROW NOCK AND TRIGGER ACTUATED RELEASE THEREFOR Inventors: Michael D. Suski, 5031 Kermit St.,

Flint, Mich. 48505; Michael R. Suski, 313 N. Elms Rd., Flushing, Mich. 48433 Filed: June 18, 1971 Appl. No.: 154,448

US. Cl 124/31, 124/23, 124/41, 273/1065 C Int. Cl. F4lb 5/00 Field of Search 124/35, 41, 30 R, 124/23, 24, 30 A, 31; 273/1065, 106.5 C

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1925 Maxwell 124/23 X Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-William R. Browne Attorney-Clarence A. OBrien and Harvey B. Jacobson [5 7] ABSTRACT An archers handgrip including support structure for supporting the nock on the rear end of an arrow against lateral deflection. The support structure includes a finger releasable latch mechanism releasably engageable with notches in the nock portion of the supported arrow and retains the supported arrow nock against forward movement relative to the support structure, the latch mechanism and support structure being engageable with the rear end portion of the associated arrow nock rearward of the forward end of the bow string accommodating slot of the arrow nock.

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12) gm WWW ARROW NOCK AND TRIGGER ACTUATED RELEASE THEREFOR Bow and arrow sport hunting and target shooting are becoming increasingly popular and many efforts have been directed in various phases of bow and arrow constructions to increase interest in archery, both as a sport and for hunting purposes. Some of these efforts include specially constructed bow arms, handgrips and new developments in sighting attachments. In addition, considerable effort has been expended in developing more effective hunting arrow points or tips. In addition, there have been several attempts made to provide a pistol or handgrip release for the bow string whereby the string may be cleanly released at the desired instant as opposed to retaining the bow string in drawn position with the fingers (either with or without abbreviated hand worn gloves or the like) and then allowing the bow string to slip off the ends of the fingers as the fingers are straightened at thetime of release-of the bow string.

By allowing a bow string to slip off the ends of his fingers the bowman substantially always imparts a slight lateral movement to the bow string and the string makes a twang sound as it slips off the ends of the fingers under tension, the twang sound reaching the target before the projected arrow and thus rendering an alarming sound audible to an animal being hunted at least a split second before the released arrow reaches the target.

Substantially all of the previously devised pistol or handgrip-type of bow string releases have acted upon and retained the bow string itself in drawn condition with the result that even the finest of these pistol or handgrip-type releases, while negating the possibility of 'lateral deflection of the bow string, still cause the bow string to render a twang sound as the bow string is released.

It is accordingly the main object of this invention to provide an improved pistol or handgrip-type of release for use by archers which will not only eliminate the possibility of lateral deflection of the bow string but also act upon the nock of the associated arrow in retaining the arrow in a drawn condition with the associated bow string free of all contact with the release and therefore eliminate any possibility of alarming a hearing target prior to the arrival of the projected arrow at the target due to bow string twang.

Another object of this invention, in accordance withthe immediately preceding object, is to provide a handgrip release for archers that may readily have variously shaped handgrip portions thereof incorporated therein independent of any structural modifications of the actual finger engageable arrow nock engaging release mechanism thereof.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a handgrip release in accordance with the preceding'objects including a safety which will prevent accidental release of the associated arrow nock independent of release of the safety mechanism.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a handgrip release for an arrow nock which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of an archer supporting a bow and arrow and with the bow held in a drawn position by means of the handgrip assembly of the instant invention releasably engaged with the associated arrow nock;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged top plan view of the right hand of the archer illustrated in FIG. 1 together with the handgrip release and adjacent portions of the associated arrow and bow string;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the handgrip release;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing through the center of the handgrip illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the handgrip;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of those portions of the handgrip release engageable with and also illustrating the rear end of the associated arrow;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view similar to the left hand portion of FIG. 4 but illustrating a slightly modified form of release;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of a third handgrip release utilizing a handgrip portion of slightly different configuration; and

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of a fourth form of handgrip release utilizing a still further different configuration of handgrip portion and also incorporating a safety mechanism.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings and to FIGS. 1 through 5 in particular, the numeral 10 generally designates a archer holding the handgrip portion 12 of a bow 14 in his left hand 16 and a first form of handgrip release referred to in general by the reference numeral 18 in his right hand 20.

The release 18 includes an upstanding generally U- shaped handgrip portion 22 including upstanding front and rear legs 24 and 26 interconnected at their lower ends by means of an integral curved bight portion 28. The upper end portion of the front leg 24 includes an upper forwardly angulated extension 30 which projects above the upper end of the rear leg 26 and is bifurcated at its upper end as at 32. A release lever 34 is pivotally secured between the furcations 36 and 38 of the bifurcated upper end 32 by means of a pivot fastener 40 and the lever 34 is generally horizontally disposed and includes a rear downwardly curving and flattened thumb engageable end portion 42 at its rear end and a bifurcated forward terminal end 44 between whose furcations the upper end of an upstanding latch member 46 is pivotally secured by means of a pivot fastener 48. The lower end of the latch member 46 includes a downwardly opening bifurcated head 50 and a latch roller 52 is joumalled between the lower ends of the furcations 54 of the head 50 by means of an axle pin 56.

The front leg 24 is notched as at 58 and the rear end of a forwardly projecting generally horizontal and elongated receiver 60 is secured in the forwardly opening notch 58 by means of a threaded fastener 62 secured through a front to rear extending bore 64 in the upper end portion of the forward leg 24 and in a threaded and rearwardly opening blind longitudinal bore 66 formed in the rear end of the receiver 60.

The forward end of the receiver 60 has a forwardly opening longitudinal blind bore 68 formed therein and also a transverse notch 70 which opens upwardly and also downwardly into the upper portion of the bore 68 intermediate its inner and outer ends.

The head 50 is removably secured to the lower end of the latch member 46 by means ofa threaded fastener 72 and it may be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings that the latch roller 52 is downwardly receivable in the notch 70 with substantially the entire vertical extent of the central portion of the roller 52 received within the bore 68 below the upper extremities thereof.

The upper end of the front leg 24 is provided with an upwardly opening blind bore 78 in which the lower end of a compression spring 80 is seated and the release lever 34 has a vertically extending slot 82 formed therethrough rearward of the bifurcated upper end 32 of the extension 30. A pivot anchor 84 has its upper end pivotally secured in the slot 82 by means of a pivot fastener 86 and the pivot anchor 84 includes a depending threaded shank 88 which extends downwardly into at least the upper end portion of the compression spring 80 and also downwardly into the upper end of the bore 78, a threaded abutment nut 90 being threadedly engaged on the shank 88 with the upper end of the compression spring 80 abutted against the under side of the abutment nut 90 whereby the compression spring 80 biases the rear end of release lever 34 upwardly so as to displace the release roller 52 downwardly into the notch 70.

With attention invited now more specifically to FIGS. 1, 4 and 6 of the drawings, it will be seen that an arrow 92 is provided with a feathered shaft 94 having a tip 96 at its forward end and a nock 98 at its rear end, the nock 98 being provided with a vertically extending and rearwardly opening slot 100 as is conventional. However, the slotted rear end portion of the nock 98 is elongated as compared to the length of the slotted portion of a conventional nock so that when the rear terminal end portion of the nock 98 is seated in the blind bore 68 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings the forward extremity of the slot 100 will be disposed forward of the forward end of the receiver 60 with sufficient clearance between the forward end of the slot 100 and the forward end of the receiver 60 to enable the string 102 of the bow 14 seated in the forward end of the slot 100 to be spaced forward of the forward terminal end of the receiver 60.

The nock 98 is further conventional in that its forward end is provided with a forwardly opening bore 104 in which a diametrically reduced rear terminal end 106 of the arrow shaft 94 is secured. However, the nock 98 differs further from the conventional nock in that the rear upper portion thereof receivable in the bore 68 is provided with a transverse and upwardly opening notch 108 which is registered with the notch or recess 70 when the nock 98 is seated in the bore 68 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings.

In operation, the arrow 92 may be engaged with the string 102 and handgrip 12 of the bow 14 in any conventional manner perparatory to drawing the bow string I02. Thereafter, as the arrow 92 is held in position by the left hand 16 also engaged with the handgrip 12, the handgrip release, held in the archers right hand 20, is advanced toward the rear end of the nock 98 with the thumb of the right hand 20 pressing downward on the end portion 42 of the lever 34 so as to withdraw the roller 52 from the notch or recess 70. Thereafter, the handgrip release 18 is manipulated to telescope the forward end of the receiver 60 over the rear end of the nock 98 and the end portion 42 of the lever 34 is released in order to enable the spring 80 to pivot the lever 34 in a manner so as to displace the roller 52 into the notch as well as the notch 108 to thus lock the nock 98 in the bore 68 of the receiver 60.

At this point, the handgrip release 18 may even be completely released by the hand 20 as long as the string 102 is slightly drawn and the hand 16 also grips the arrow shaft 92 to stabilize the latter relative to the bow 14. Then, as soon as it is desired to draw the bow string 102, the right hand 20 may be re-engaged with the handgrip release 18 so as to draw the latter as well as the arrow 92 and the engaged portion of the bow string 102 rearwardly relative to the handgrip 12 until the bow string 102 is fully drawn to the position illustrated in FIG. 1. Then, with the handgrip release 18 held alongside the head of the archer 10, the archer may release the arrow nock 98 and thus the arrow 92 and the string 102 whenever desired merely by applying downward thumb pressure to the end portion 42 of the release lever 34, which downward pressure on the endportion 42 will cause the latch member 46 to be upwardly displaced so as to withdraw the latch roller 52 from within the notches 70 and 108.

At the archers discretion, the handgrip release 18 or his right hand 20 may be steadied along the right side of his face orjaw until the instant of release of the nock 98. Of course, the handgrip release 18 may also be utilized by left-handed archers.

In any event, when the handgrip release 18 is actuated to release the nock 98, the nock 98 is guided during its initial forward movement by the bore 68 and the bow string 102 is not in any way vibrated to cause the aforementioned twang sound to be emitted therefrom. Therefore, the handgrip release 18 not only prevents lateral deflection of the rear end of the arrow 92 at the time the arrow 92 is released but also eliminates any possibility of the bow string 102 emitting an alarming sound for travelling to the target ahead of the projected arrow.

With reference now more specifically to FIG. 7 of the drawings there will be seen a modified form of latch member similar to the latch member 46 but designated by the reference numeral 46'. The latch member 46 is designed to be utilized in conjunction with a slightly modified form of receiver 60 wherein the slot or notch 70 of the receiver 60 is replaced by an opening 70, the lower end of the latch member 46' including a wedgeshaped latch element 52' in lieu of the roller 52 and the associated nock 98 including a notch 108' conforming in shape to the element 52' in lieu of the cylindrical shape of the roller 52. Otherwise, the operation of the latch member 46, receiver 60' and nock 98' being identical to the corresponding components of the handgrip release 18.

With attention now directed more specifically to FIG. 8 of the drawings there will be seen a further modified form of handgrip release referred to in general by reference numeral 18" and which differs from the handgrip 18 in that the receiver 60" thereof corresponding to the receiver 60 has it rear end shortened and supported from an upstanding third leg 27 of the handgrip 18" disposed forwardly of the leg 24" corresponding to the leg 24. The third leg 27 includes a rearwardly directed upper. end extension 29 which is secured to the underside of the extension 30" corresponding to the extention 30 and the lower end of the third leg 27 includes a rearwardly direction portion 31 comprising an integral forward extension of the bight portion 28", the lower end of the leg 24" being secured to the upper portion of the bight portion 28" centrally intermediate the rear leg 26" of the handgrip release 18" and the third leg 27.

With attention finally directed to FIG. 9 of the drawings, a fourth form of handgrip release generally designated by the reference numeral 18" is provided. The release 18"includes a horizontally and rearwardly opening vertically disposed U-shaped mounting portion 57 secured to the front leg 24" and the rear end of a modified receiver 60" is bifurcated and pivotally secured as at 59 to the midportion of the member 57. In addition, the forward extremity of the end portion of 42" is provided with a vertical slot 61 in which the diametrically reduced upper end portion 63 of an upstanding safety link 65 is received. The lower end of the safety link 65 is pivotally secured to the upper end of the rear leg 26" as at 67 and an expansion spring 69 is secured between the safety link 65 and the rear terminal end of the end portion 42".

With the arrow nock 98 anchored in the receiver 60" by means of the roller of the latch member 46" and the diametrically reduced upper end portion or extension 63 of the safety link 65 disposed in the rear end of the slot 61, the end portion 42" of the release lever 34" may not be downwardly depressed. Thus, in order to release the nock 98, forward thumb pressure must be applied to the extension 63 and thereafter downward pressure applied to the end portion 42" of the release lever 34". Still further, the bight portion 28" of the handgrip portion 22" includes a forwardly projecting and vertically thin projection 71 for reception between the third and little fingers of the archers hand for further steadying of the handgrip release 18".

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may beresorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. ln combination, an arrow nock for attachment to the rear end of an arrow shaft and a hand held nock support and release, said nock comprising an elongated body having front and rear ends, the front end of said body including means for securement to the rear end of an associated arrow shaft, the rear end of said body including a transversely extending generally diametric and rearwardly opening slot for the reception of an associated bow string therein, said slot defining a bifurcated rear end portion of said body including furcations disposed on opposite sides of said slot, said furcations, rearward of the forward end of said slot, including transversely aligned laterally opening notches, said support and release including a receiver body having a forward portion, said front portion of said receiver body including a forwardly opening bore, the rear end of said nock body being telescopingly receivable in said bore, said support and release also including a latch member supported from said receiver body for lateral shifting relative thereto between an inoperative position disposed to only one side of said bore and an operative position wherein said latch member projects into said bore from only one side thereof and extends transversely of said bore, said latch member being received in said notches when said latch member is disposed in said operative position and when said rear end of said nock is telescopingly received in said bore.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the forward end of said slot is disposed forwardly of the forward end of said bore when said nock is received in said bore and said latch member is registered with said notches.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said support includes an elongated transverse handgrip portion including front and rear sides, said receiver body being elongated and including front and rear ends, said front end comprising said forward portion, the rear end of said receiver body being secured to said handgrip portion intermediate its opposite ends with said receiver body projecting endwise in a forward direction from said handgrip portion.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said receiver body includes a lateral slot opening inwardly into said bore, said latch member, during movement between said operative and inoperative positions, being projected through said lateral slot. 

1. In combination, an arrow nock for attachment to the rear end of an arrow shaft and a hand held nock support and release, said nock comprising an elongated body having front and rear ends, the front end of said body including means for securement to the rear end of an associated arrow shaft, the rear end of said body including a transversely extending generally diametric and rearwardly opening slot for the reception of an associated bow string therein, said slot defining a bifurcated rear end portion of said body including furcations disposed on opposite sides of said slot, said furcations, rearward of the forward end of said slot, including transversely aligned laterally opening notches, said support and release including a receiver body having a forward portion, said front portion of said receiver body including a forwardly opening bore, the rear end of said nock body being telescopingly receivable in said bore, said support and release also including a latch member supported from said receiver body for lateral shifting relative thereto between an inoperative position disposed to only one side of said bore and an operative position wherein said latch member projects into said bore from only one side thereof and extends transversely of said bore, said latch member being received in said notches when said latch member is disposed in said operative position and when said rear end of said nock is telescopingly received in said bore.
 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the forward end of said slot is disposed forwardly of the forward end of said bore when said nock is received in said bore and said latch member is registered with said notches.
 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said support includes an elongated transverse handgrip portion including front and rear sides, said receiver body being elongated and including front and rear ends, said front end comprising said forward portion, the rear end of said receiver body being secured to said handgrip portion intermediate its opposite ends with said receiver body projecting endwise in a forward direction from said handgrip portion.
 4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said receiver body includes a lateral slot opening inwardly into said bore, said latch member, during movement between said operative and inoperative positions, being projected through said lateral slot. 